James Bond is missing... 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company, and his whereabouts are unknown.

It's now up to a new generation of spies to investigate tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise, who claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet - but may have ulterior motives.

That's the set-up for Dartmouth-Park raised author Kim Sherwood's Double or Nothing after she was chosen by Ian Fleming's estate to pen a new spin off series of contemporary thrillers.

The first in a trilogy, which expands the James Bond universe started by Fleming in 1953 with Casino Royale, Double or Nothing puts Sherwood alongside the likes of Charlie Higson, Sebastian Faulks and Anthony Horowitz in continuing the 007 legacy - but she's the first female author, and the first to pen books without Bond himself.

The former Parliament Hill pupil's award-winning 2018 debut Testament charted the impact of the Holocaust on three generations of a family, and was sparked by her grandmother's experience as a Holocaust survivor. The grand-daughter of Inspector Wexford actor George Baker, she took A levels at LaSwap sixth form, and is now lecturer in Creative Writing at The University of Edinburgh.

And the passionate Ian Fleming traces her first memory of reading his novels back to Camden Market.

“When I was around 12, I wanted to try writing spy fiction, but I wasn't sure where to start. My mum recommended I read some – always good advice! – so I bought From Russia With Love in paperback from Camden Market.

“I was hooked from the first sentence: 'The naked man who lay splayed out on his face beside the swimming pool might have been dead.'”

She wanted to expand the Bond canon by introducing a new generation of spies into the mix.

“The exciting challenge of Double or Nothing was to write new Double O heroes," she said. "I decided to embed this challenge within the plot itself. James Bond is missing, and Joseph Dryden (004), Johanna Harwood (003) and Sid Bashir (009) must try to find him while facing the threat of climate collapse.”

Despite being shortlisted for the 2019 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, she still felt the pressure of tackling an iconic character.

“I used to play James Bond as a kid in imaginary games. James Bond belongs to everyone, and I don't want to let anyone down –particularly my childhood self! I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to write a character so important to so many people," she said.

From blockbuster movies to best-selling novels, the fictional spy has become a British institution and one of the country’s great exports - but she says the character's historic legacy didn't hinder her writing.

“It was fuel to me, especially returning to Ian Fleming's writing, which has been inspiring me since I was a teenager, and still inspires me. I re-read all of the books, looking for threads I could pull on, cues I could take.

“I think we all inherit an idea of who James Bond is, though perhaps with different emphasis on certain characteristics or facets depending on the Bond you grew up with in the cinema.

“My Bond is Fleming's Bond and Brosnan's Bond, but it's also Connery and Craig, Moore, Lazenby and Dalton. The whole cocktail, shaken, not stirred, of course. When I started writing Double or Nothing, Bond was an icon. By the end of the book, he was human.”

Ham & High: Double Or Nothing by Kim Sherwood is released by Harper Collins price £9.99Double Or Nothing by Kim Sherwood is released by Harper Collins price £9.99 (Image: Courtesy of the publisher)

Double or Nothing is published by HarperCollins price £9.99.